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This collection contains materials dated 1784-1934. It includes correspondence, legal papers, and accounts, chiefly 1830-1892, of Benjamin S. Ewell, professor at the U.S. Military Academy, Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee College, and the College of William and Mary (which he served as acting president, 1848-1849, and president, 1854-1888). Letters from Ewell during the Civil War when he was assistant adjutant-general to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston are included as well. Among the correspondents are members of the Tyler, Ewell, Campbell, and Brown families of Virginia and Tennessee. The collection also contains the memorandum book on the Ewell family by Elizabeth S. Ewell.

6 page letter from Elizabeth L. Ewell to her brother, Benjamin Ewell dated November 24, 1876. The entirety of the letter consists of her opinions regarding a monument for her mother's grave at the William and Mary burial site. A transcribed copy is stored with the letter. Accompanying the letter is a copy of a news paper article that describes the college grave site. Also in this collection are two photographs of Benjamin Ewell, President of William and Mary. One photograph depicts him seated, presumably in the Wren library, with an unidentified man. Another is a daguerreotype photograph which shows Benjamin Ewell seated and holding a pet dog.

Letter, 1859 October 30, from someone named Maria to Elizabeth S. Ewell, daughter of College of William and Mary president Benjamin S. Ewell. In the letter, the author writes about life in Williamsburg, Virginia, the engagements of local men including professor Edwin Taliaferro to Bland Tucker, the Williamsburg Female Academy, and the loss of George T. Wilmer as rector of Bruton Parish Church.